1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nutritive composition useful for preventing infectious diseases. The nutritive composition of the present invention is effective for the prevention and therapy of infectious diseases due to immunosuppression induced by administration of anticancer drugs.
2. Description of the Background Art
in recent years, important relationships between nutrition and diseases have become clear; in particular, the relationship between immunity and nutrition is considered to be of primary importance. The normal immune response by a living body is depressed with a decline in nutrition, resulting in induction of bacterial infection diseases and the like. In this regard, active feeding of a high-energy nutrition is widely practiced in the patients who suffered from excessive burden such as surgical operation or the like, for the purpose of accelerating restoration or preventing the immunosuppression induced by such operation. High-energy transfusions, enteral feedings, and the like have been developed as such nutritive feedings. By these feedings, immunosuppression arising from malnutrition can be prevented to a large extent. On the other hand, infectious diseases arising from immunosuppression which is induced by other diseases or medical treatments are experienced frequently. Specifically, marked depression of immune response is often observed in the patients who have cancer. Such immunosuppression is evidently caused by malnutrition as a result of anorexia, immunosuppresants produced by neoplasm histoma, or by being exposed to radiation or administration of anticancer drugs for the treatment of cancer. In the therapy for cancer, therefore, immunotherapeutic drugs such as Krestin, Picibanil, interferon, G-CSF, and the like, are administered to the patients in addition to nutritional care. Nevertheless, administration of these drugs does not bring about appreciable effects on the immunosuppression induced by cancer treatments, especially it is not effective for the therapy of infectious diseases. Furthermore, it is known that administration of anticancer drugs suppresses the marrow function which involves the production of immunocytes, and, at the same time, injures gastromucos membranes, inducing conditions where the patients are susceptible to infectious diseases. Due to these causes and reasons, endogenous infection diseases are included by administration of anticancer drugs.